1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a display screen with push buttons.
2. Related Art
Various ways of accepting user input for electronic devices, including gaming machines, have been devised. One common input device is a push-button. The push-button generally has a plunger which may be depressed to activate an electrical switch. These buttons are generally permanently labeled, such as with printing, so as to be easily identified by a user. However, a significant problem with buttons is that they are generally single function. In particular, a separate button must be provided for each function or input. If there are many functions or inputs, this requires many buttons. In addition, once a particular device is configured with buttons, it is difficult to change the configuration of the device, since the number of buttons required and/or their labeling will generally no longer be accurate. Thus, devices which utilize buttons must generally be custom-configured. As one example, a gaming machine could be configured to execute game software to present different games. However, those different games may require different inputs. For example, a “slot” game might include “spin” buttons, while a “poker” game might require “hold/draw” buttons. As such, two different machines must be produced, each with separate numbers of differently labeled buttons.
As an alternative to buttons, some devices utilize touch screens that can display information as well as collect user input. A substantial problem with touch screens, however, is that users often find them difficult to use. First, because touch screens appear similar to non-touch screens, a user may first not even be aware that input is to be provided to a device via the screen. Even so, touch screens lack tactile feedback. Thus, a user may touch an area of the screen and be unsure whether the input was received. This may cause the user to re-touch the screen or believe that the screen is not a touch screen. An improved input configuration is desired.